District 25 gambles levy bucks again
By Ron Daugherty
Have you seen the billboards around town? “School District 25 Supplemental Levy, NO NEW TAXES. Vote NO March 8th.” Heed them. Follow them.
Deceptive stories continue to become known. “Lunacy!” people on the street would certainly respond if they knew, “what school district would ever do ‘that’ during economic times like ours?”
Imagine a district incessantly crying because it cannot budget through hard times and is seriously out of money…or so we’re led to believe.
Perhaps we’re asking inquiries of the wrong people and getting vague answers. Maybe we’re not precise enough with those in the know. Or could it be that some educator folks are simply deceitful with the public. Take your pick at this point in time.
Nonetheless, March 8 taxpayer pockets will again be potentially pick-pocketed, depending upon the particular outcome. Your votes dictate. Citizens, the public must stop such levy robbery once and for all by voting an emphatic NO, NO, NO MORE TAXES!
Reasonable people would say, “We’re done! Get to your job at hand and budget for the new future of systemic discretion and prudence.” More taxation is not the answer. Taxing to spend is an eternal problem, as a matter of fact.
There simply aren’t anymore endless options. Our wide-ranging economic perfect storm is not going away soon. Understand it. Know it. Plan for it. Think like Idaho families have to nowadays; survive by what you have and have gained in life.
The same cost increases that confront families also face cities and school districts. So what’s new? Deal with them.
Visualize. Specifically confront school district numbers and observe the big picture. Based upon levies from 2004, 2011 and 2012 – assuming a proposed 2012 levy should pass – taxpayers would cough-up an additional $687.37 (each payer) via property taxes, per $100,000 assessed/inflated business or home property values, though those values have gone hideously downward.
Read between the lines. Listen well beyond double-talking mouths and smiling faces. Should all levies pass with flying colors, “the good ole kid-oriented” district still predicts it’ll require $1,577,000 more dollars down the immediate road. From where? From whom? Peter? Paul? Or from both?
In my last commentary on the district levy issue, I offered 10 workable suggestions to help them through bad times. Real educators would review and evaluate them. Nothing has happened to innovate, and undoubtedly won’t. The people must now respond to such inept inaction.
Blank-checks are vanishing from disproportionate institution/government spending. Line up to be counted. Vote NO MORE on the 8th.
Send a message to get tougher. Freeze all levies statewide for the next four years. Additionally, mandate levies only once during a five-year period by law throughout the state. Such is a workable plan promoted by the people. Collectively govern out and away arbitrary tax & spend mindset mentality forever. Tell cities and districts to become strictly not-for-profit functions by and for the people of residence.
Be truly brave and bold. Give back a sensible future to your children and grandchildren.
After all, let’s be clear to a concise point: Regarding another School District 25 Supplemental Levy, NO NEW TAXES. Vote NO to more taxation on March 8. The issue is not about kids. It’s about institutional dishonesty…again.
Ron Dean Daugherty of Pocatello is an author, specialty magazine contributor, past small-business owner, and now retired educator/administrator within regular and special learning programs. Feel free to share your comments and/or feedback at rond@cableone.net.
Seems to me the issue of providing an educational process by a top heavy administarion is on going and provided for a mis-informed tax paying population, keep “giving” and you get the same “results” Oh my, did I say that?
Mr. Daugherty
Your article amounts to nothing more than blind accusations and impassioned rhetoric. You cite financial numbers about cost but give no reasoning for why it is not necessary.
You cry foul but don’t present any evidence that there is any foul. In sports this is known as flopping. You are simply flopping on the education and future of students in SD25.
Andrew’s typical rhetoric is to shame us into giving more and more dollars. Just like the Federal Government, there comes a time and day when the “bucks” have to stop. Enough is enough!
District 25 administration just cannot accept the fact that people are hurting right now, well except for Vagner and her crew! They seem to be doing pretty well for themselves. They speak about how terrible and outdated the textbooks are. Well guess what? They have been that way for years now. While pay for the district employees was going up the text books were getting more and more terrible and outdated. Hmmm, why was the textbook condition not an issue when times were good at D25. The district wants us to believe that textbooks, classroom supplies, buildings, all started to go downhill at the same time and all within the last year. Well, that misconception tells me that the administration is incompetent at performing the tasks of running the district.
It’s time for the district to join the rest of the world and tighten up its budget.
If D25 schols doesn’t already scrape the bottom of the Welfare bucket, people like Ron Daughtery will make Cannery Row look like Beverly Hills.
Man I have heard some belly aching and crying but this character really takes the cake.
Half of the pay check goes on the hunting trip,
the one the man so deserves, you know the bread winner. And that is not counting the money for the fishing trips every man needs. Two or three good week-ends at least and never mind the cost, it is a necessity.
And of course there are the little extras for the second and third car, have to keep the SUV
in good shape as well. And there are all those little extras we just can’t do without including at least on pair of shoes extra per month.
Now the school district wants an extra ten dollars a week, comes out to about 1.25 per day. Oh my God!!!! And for what– books!!!!
Kids don’t need books.
Ron Daughtery you stink!!!! Pocatello you deserve more than you get if you listen to this backwoods hillbilly snake in the grass steals candy from little children, skunk.
The District has needed to update their textbooks for years now. When times were good they choose not to update the books. Instead they created an all new freshman success class in the high schools. Along with the many books purchased for that class they also purchased day runners for every incoming freshman. Now that times are rough and budgets have been slashed the existing textbooks that needed updated years ago suddenly get noticed. Come on now, even someone with your smarts Ranger can see what is going on.
The district needs to get their priories in order just like the rest of us do to manage our budgets. But why should they manage their money better? When all they need to do is to ask people such as yourself to fork over a few bucks works.
itis
That is a tremendous rationalization and probably an insider view. Personally I always found that the schools, particularly the High Schools do suffer a severe paucity when it comes to books. Even the libraries suffer
from a real shortage of these gems (things called books).
Libraries in general, particularly school libraries, are run by librarians who have a tendency to toss books that are not checked out on a regular basis, and stock the “new stuff” which is the more modern books.
Being a classisist in terms of learning, I particularly lament the lack of language books
(other languages besides English): even the lack of languages taught in the schools is also deplorable. A rich district indeed that teaches more than one foreign language. They just don’t want to hire the teachers. Students should have at least one semester in
three different languages if they intend on pursuing a Liberal Arts future.
But they don’t want to hire the teachers.
If the school district people are unwilling
to buy text books for the students by a tax increase, then they should disband the entire concept of public education. Tuition should be charged at the schools so the teachers that are needed can be hired. They should also disband the idea of textbooks for the students free of charge. Students should be required to buy their own books and not be allowed into a classroom unlees the text is purchased before the start of the semester.
Also they should discontinue the use of free bus service to and from school. Students should walk or take the public bus and pay fares like everyone else.
If the tax payers want to save money and be critical the way the schools are run, they they should privatise education. They will then see how much it costs to run a school, or even the cost of educatating one kid to a High
School Diploma.
It is also hilarious to listen to these Republican civil conscious snakes after they voted in their great and illustrious Idaho saviour otter, and now find that the kids in the schools don’t have books because the State cut them out of how many millions.
Well the schools have to run in spite of these
Civic minded lizards. I wish they would do us all a favor and move back to the hills where they came from. Let them go live off coyotes and wolves or whatever else they consider high living. The kids need books!!! End of story,
hill bill.
All you Tea Party cry babies just got your asses kicked in the levy election. Why don’t
you crawl back in your holes and shut up. I think the voters are tired of you BS.This is just the beginning . YOUR NEXT COUNTY AND STATE.
Talk about hypocrites your messiah Rich Kirkham just spent $ 10,000.00 out of his own pocket to defeat the levy. Now that is real intelligence. Oh it doesn’t matter when you have all the money you need and then some. I GUESS IF I WAS BORN WITH A SILVER SPOON IN MY MOUTH I WOULD WORRY ABOUT AN EXTRA $2.00 A MONTH IN TAXES (NOT!!) WHAT A LOOSER YOU ARE KIRKHAM
I’m only a junior at Century, but his levy means a lot to me, and everyone else at the schools in District 25. Because of the positive outcome, I can participate in musical education, allowing me to do what I love and express myself through a unique language.
Thank you, Pocatello, for voting yes.
Free enterprise privatizing of education is the answer to levies. Prognosticated by Alexander Fraser Tytler, Cycle Of Democracy (1770) [Some question source.]: “A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over lousy fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average of the world’s great civilizations before they decline has been 200 years. These nations have progressed in this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; from faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to Complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependency; from dependency back again to bondage.”
Ranger, Yes kids need books, but between 2 kids I have had the past seven years in the high schools. I showed my kids the picture in the paper of the Poky teacher showing the road kill school book. They said they have never used or seen anyone else use a book that looked like that. It was nothing more than a photo opt. I voted no on the levy because of these kind of tactics the school district uses.
A quality public education system is the very best investment a civilized society can make. The more educated our society, the better we will do economically.
I am extremely thankful for the public education I received and the public education my child received.
I voted in favor of the levy and am thankful I live in a community that values education.
Until our state legislature stands up for education we will have to do it on the local level. Thanks to all who supported this levy. All children deserve a quality education and our country needs educated citizens.